2009 Toyota Venza is one surprisingly slick wagonoid

2009 Toyota Venza - Click above for high-res gallery

The wagons we all know, love and grew up with gradually fell out of favor as the minivan took hold in the '80s. Led by Chrysler's practical little boxes, the van became the king of Mt. People Mover, only to be usurped by the SUV, which took the wagon formula and added a heaping dose of machismo. The wagons have all but vanished, and today, both SUVs and minivans resemble Hollywood stars whose salad days are clearly behind them.



The so-called "crossover" is the new king, at least according to marketers who coined the maddeningly broad term, which now applies to everything from large, car-based pseudo-SUVs to what are – by all rights – traditional wagons, albeit with tall roofs and occasionally all-wheel drive. When Toyota elected to make the Highlander a substantially larger vehicle with three rows of seating, it left a void in its line-up for people seeking a utilitarian five-seater. The lack of a Camry wagon, which has been dead for ages, meant there was an opportunity for Toyota to fill-in the blank with something to compete against the Ford Edge, Nissan Murano and rest of the CUV set. And so we have the Venza.
Surprisingly stylish, particularly for a Toyota, the Venza is essentially the new Camry Wagon. It's derived from the bread-and-butter sedan's architecture and uses its familiar 3.5-liter V6 in its top level trim (a four-cylinder is also offered, and truth be told, we tried to acquire one as a tester. No dice – only sixes were available). Toyota's designers were obviously trying to stay away from the traditional Lego-brick wagon profile, and it looks as if they may have had a little fun carving out the Venza. The car's face features an ornate chrome grille that comes across as being a bit Edgy in a Ford sort of way. It's sure to polarize, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. Either way, it's not like the other visual sleeping pills that Toyota has pumped out as of late.



In profile, the Venza's slick wagonoid shape is ornamented with bulging wheel arches in front and powerful, rear-drive-looking haunches in back. There's a pronounced indent along the lower portion of the door panels that adds a veneer of muscle to the sheetmetal and keeps the Venza from looking overly slab-sided. The same goes for the wheel package: 20-inchers wrapped in 50-series rubber are standard equipment on the V6. Visually, this makes the Venza look like something you just ripped out of a Hot Wheels blister pack. While the dubs admittedly work well within the overall styling theme, they're certainly not a practical choice for a family capsule. Unassuming buyers will be in for a surprise when it comes time to replace the tires, as 20-inch rubber doesn't come cheap (the four-cylinder buyers are in a similar boat – they get 19-inch hoops standard).




Working toward the rear of the car, the angled D-pillar flows down into the rear fender flare, which grabs light and adds some visual interest before terminating at the car's barbed taillamp. Dual polished exhaust tips are both the finishing touch and the visual telltale that there's a bent-six underhood. It's got a great stance overall, but there seems to be one small price to pay for the handsome sheetmetal: it might be hard to keep clean. During its stay with us, the Venza's bodywork excelled at collecting winter road grime on its various undulating surfaces.



Inside, the tarted-up Venza tries to play the Lexus-lite card. The tan leather seats are accented with dark, contrast piping; the black instrument panel has a soft-touch "give" to it; and driver instrumentation is very straightforward. The other interior plastics are simply okay. Most of the important spots look and feel fine, but some elements – the little change drawer above the driver's left leg comes to mind – smack of chintz. Secondary info (trip computer, climate settings, etc.) is found within a bright, legible LCD screen mounted high on the dash. Since our tester was loaded, the audio system added a second multifunction nav/phone/radio touchscreen.



All of the other important controls are mounted within arm's reach on the center stack. The shifter sits to the left and the climate controls sit immediately to its right. One nitpick: we kept reaching for the oversized main temperature dial, thinking it was the audio system's volume control. Ultimately, we overcame this habit by forcing ourselves to use the steering-wheel controls for the audio system whenever possible. Still, the temp dial's size and placement in the center stack really makes it look like a volume control, particularly at night.

Below the HVAC interface, you'll find a spring-loaded device holder designed to secure your MP3 player or phone. There's a rudimentary cable-management system included, which allows you to run a basic auxiliary lead from the device to the jack located in the capacious center console storage bin without cluttering up the console area. Be advised: it's just a basic AUX jack – no USB – so if you run your iPod, you'll still have to manage song selection from the device.



We found that our Blackberry Curve fit nicely in the cubby, but there was one occasion when it spontaneously launched itself from the holder and clattered into the passenger footwell. The car's Bluetooth connection meant it didn't make a difference, but it was annoying nonetheless. The entire center console surface, cupholders and all, slides back to allow access into the aforementioned storage compartment and there's a second bin under the armrest. In short, you can stow a lot of junk in the space between the front seats.

Piloting the Venza is a tale in Camriffic inoffensiveness. Road imperfections are soaked up with subdued thumps that might have been even less obtrusive if the wheel/tire package didn't hail from Dub City. The 268-horsepower 3.5-liter V6 propels the AWD Venza's two-ton mass without breaking a sweat. Power delivery isn't a problem, and the corporate six is smooth enough. You can manually shift the Venza's six-speed auto, but doing so doesn't appreciably spice things up and feels out-of-character for this vehicle. Steering effort is predictably low, yet the Venza still responds to inputs quickly. It makes for a pleasant, if unexciting, drive and a little less Novocaine would make it better still.



We took the car out in some pretty sloppy, snowy Connecticut weather, and it handled the rotten conditions with aplomb. That said, the traction-control electro-nanny isn't shy about making her presence known, and when the going gets slippery, she likes to blink angrily at you with her shame-on-you light in the gauge cluster. On dry pavement, the Venza behaves itself just as you'd expect. Push it in the corners, you find a helping of body roll and understeer. Trundle about town hitting the grocery store and returning the kids' books to the library, and it's the teacher's pet. It's a Toyota – you know what you're getting here. Prospective Venza mommies hoping to unleash their inner Danicas should look elsewhere.



Seating up front is plush, if not especially supportive. Backseat passengers have comfortable legroom and bright surroundings – especially with the pricey, optional panoramic roof option, which parks a second, fixed glass panel overhead. As for hauling duties, you can pack a little over 34 cubic feet of groceries and whatnot behind the rear seats. Bulkier stuff, like large boxes, will likely force you to fold down at least one part of the split second row – an exercise made exceptionally simple thanks to doorhandle-style releases mounted on the sides of the cargo bay. With the second row flattened out, interior cargo volume jumps to a little over 70 cubic feet which, according to a Venza commercial we saw on TV, appears to easily accommodate a pair of beautifully-groomed golden retrievers.



Our all-wheel-drive V6 Venza started at $29,250 and got expensive in a hurry. It was loaded: fancy panoramic roof, leather, JBL premium audio, navigation, etc. All of that kit worked out to a rather off-putting $38,493 bottom line. (A copy of the Monroney is in the accompanying photo gallery.) As you're probably aware, that kind of scratch can put you into something bigger and/or more practical if those are your priorities. You can also just as easily spend less and get similar to equal utility.



Admittedly, our Venza's option packages were very pricey – $4,345 for the Premium Package, another $2,590 for the upgraded audio and navigation system, and yet another $1,050 for the panoramic roof. The Venza's a classy, good-looking, and enjoyable wagon, but our car's lofty as-tested price simply makes it tough to swallow. Is it worthy of your consideration? Absolutely – if you can exercise enough restraint to keep the options in check. Otherwise, once you get to the higher end of the scale, you run into some solid competitors. This makes the Venza less of a slam dunk and more like a pretty lay-up.
source by autoblog

Toyota may replace rusty frames on 2000-2003 Tundra pickups for free

Can you push a marble through a rusted-out hole in the frame of your 2000-2003 Toyota Tundra? If so, you may be eligible for a brand new frame courtesy of Toyota Motor Company. Toyota truck fanboy site Tundra Headquarters reports that the automaker is going a step beyond its original recall, which covered rusting rear-cross members. That recall was originally intended for the 20 cold weather states, though Toyota later expanded the safety action nationwide.



Toyota will reportedly cover the cost to replace the frame of any affected Tundra, provided that the rusted holes are at least 10 millimeters in diameter and the powertrain is in working order. The rust-induced holes also have to be in certain strategic areas to be eligible, and the Japanese automaker will provide a loaner vehicle while your truck is in the shop. This frame replacement procedure reportedly costs up to $10,000. Toyota is offering to replace frames of the 2000-2003 Tundras until April of 2012.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

World's first Apple iPad in-car installation looks pretty clean

World's first Apple iPad automotive installation – Click above to view video after the jump

You knew it wouldn't be long before somebody tried to install the new Apple iPad in their ride. Well, it's already happened, and the "somebody" in this case is Doug Bernards of SoundMan Car Audio in Santa Clarita, California. The team's ride of choice for what is claimed to be the world's first automotive iPad

install is a Toyota Tacoma pickup. SoundMan decided to use a McIntosh amp for the build, naturally. The team was among the first to receive an iPad, and they got to work immediately. The video chronicling the installation is after the jump.

Besides the iPad, the system consists of an Audison Bit One processor, the McIntosh six-channel amplifier, an Onkyo ND-S1 and "a special iPod dock which allows the digital signal to be pulled from the iPad and distributed to the BitOne via optical output." As the blurb on the company's website puts it:

We chose to use the iPad as the only source for the vehicles entertainment system. The dock connector will plug into a cable that runs to a Onkyo ND-S1 which will send the digital signal from the iPad directly into an Audison Bit One. The Bit One will then act as the D/A converter, and will also process the audio signal. The Bit One also has a great controller for adjusting the volume and audio settings. The amplifier we chose is the McIntosh MCC406M. Stay tunned for the rest of the build. You'll be able to find all the pictures and videos on this page as they become available.

Follow the jump to follow the installation from unboxing the components to firing it up. While the screen looks enormous in the dash, it actually doesn't look out of place and at first glance, it almost appears factory installed. The placement of the controller is a bit of a tell, and the rounded edges of the iPad need a bezel perhaps, but job well done on job number one. The team still needs to fully wire it up, but the mockup is finished. Stay tuned for part two after the rest of the components arrive. Great tip, VJ!

[Source: YouTube]

2008 Toyota Sequoia Limited

2008 Toyota Sequoia – Click above for high-res image gallery

Gigantor. The 2008 Toyota Sequoia arrives humongously revised from the already beefy first-generation. The Timberland Mica (Metallic Green) example that Toyota lent us for a week definitely deserves whatever size-related superlatives you can dream up. It's big, it's powerful, it doesn't sip fuel. There is a need and a market for this type of vehicle, however. If Sequoia buyers don't actually utilize its considerable capabilities, that's not Toyota's fault. This year marks the migration of Toyota's full size Sport Utility to the same mechanicals that underpin the new Tundra, ladling on capability to an already fairly competent and refined vehicle.


While we think the previous Sequoia was nicer to look at, at least this one is handsome than the Tundra. The change you notice first is that the grille loses its ridiculous fake scoop. Sequoias get a lower fascia that tucks the foglamps into louvered openings and uses a more subtle lower grille. The front bumper also holds sonar transponders that warn the driver if things loom too close. Drive up windows at fast food restaurants freaked out the system, but the Sonar switch is close at hand, allowing us to get our Frostys in peace. Big chrome door handles make even bear paws feel diminutive, and that's a repeating theme with the Sequoia: big. The mirrors are big (and chromey), running boards make it easy to climb into this big thing, the wheels are big and handsome - big abounds. Brake rotors as big as manhole covers do their best to stop this thing in a big hurry. The overall shape is kind of warthog-ish to our eye, with a short hood and hulking everything else. The two-box form serves up a lot of extremely flexible interior space; you can argue form following function if it helps take the sting out of parking this ugly duckling between an Expedition and a Denali.

If true beauty is on the inside, then the Sequoia starts looking better when you open the doors. Aesthetic bliss might be a little stymied by Toyota's choice of materials, but we liked it better than the Tundra Limited that visited the Autoblog Garage. The colors and conservative design of the interior are handsome and functional, but the inscrutable attention to matching textures and sheens that you'd expect from Toyota isn't present here. There's one type of plastic that makes up the dash panel, another for the center console, and there's smooth metallic silver, rough metal-look, a lot of brownish-black, and mica-infused black for the driver to take in. The variety is not discordant, and the feel is even luxurious, though the Sequoia's interior lags behind the competition.

Functionally, the Sequoia is a champ. Just concentrating on the driver's environment for a moment, everything you need is right there and easy to use. The controversy over the split design of the center stack has died down; the setup's studied ease of use quiets dissent. A little size differentiation for the HVAC mode, temperature, and fan speed controls might have avoided the occasional tendency to grab the wrong knob, however. The sheer size of the Sequoia makes the controls on the far side of the integrated navigation and audio system a bit of a stretch, too. If that part of the dash angled toward the driver, it would make life easier for us little guys. The navigation system is easy to use, but frustrating that radio presets aren't intuitively found. Less reliance on the LCD would make operating the entertainment and navigation systems easier. Some ancillary controls on the dashboard were hidden by the steering wheel, too. The same massive center armrest with storage canyon carries over from the Tundra. Big, deep cupholders handle bladder-busting coffee mugs, and there's several other storage cubbies on the center console.

Behind the front seats, there's enough room to hold a dinner party. Both the second and third rows of seats fold down easily - the rears even power themselves - and leave an airplane hangar of a load area. For passenger hauling, as well as flexible family use, the Sequoia has been meticulously crafted. Legroom? We've got legroom. Only third row passengers might brush seatbacks with their knees. There's acres of second row space, and those seats fold with an easy tug on a lever with their split folding function adding lots of versatility. Getting into the third row involves the aforementioned lever, and access is quickly and easily granted.

Buttons to power the third row into the floor are located in the cargo area, as well as on either side of the rear doors. It's those types of details that Toyota always pays attention to, and they makes its vehicles a joy to use in the field. Speaking of details, there's also flaps included on the seatbacks for covering the crevasses left in the floor after folding down all the seats, another thoughtful inclusion. Just as in the front seats, there's storage all over the place for the second- and third-row passengers in the Sequoia, there's even covered bins for third-row inhabitants. Another nice bit of Toyota detailing: the center seatbelt for the third row has its very own storage slot in the headliner. Again, exceptionally well thought out.

Cargo space when using all of the seating positions does take a hit, though there's also a deep bin in the floor of the cargo area. The limited carrying capacity might be an issue if you're taking the high school band to Disney World, but that's where the trailer hitch and towing capacity come into play. The Sequoia strikes a good balance between a manageable length and cargo volume, and that third row we bet will be occasional seating in a lot of instances.

So, once you've loaded everyone and everything into the Sequoia and you're ready to depart for Peoria, how's it drive? Not as big as you'd assume. The size is an ever-present aspect of the Sequoia, that's for sure, but the experience behind the wheel is about as carlike as one could hope. The body-on-frame quivers are exceptionally well managed. The Sequoia feels tight and solid, even on very rough pavement. The seating position makes you feel like Jean-Luc Piccard with its high vantage point, and the Limited's leather-trimmed 10-way power front seats, themselves not the thrones found in some of the competition, are comfortable. An optional cold kit was a perfect foil to the snowy conditions we had for the Sequoia's visit. Included are deicers for the windshield wipers, pop-up spray nozzles to keep the headlamps clean, and a heavy duty battery. The powered rear hatch also helped us keep our hands clean when loading up, lots of winter road filth always collects on liftgates, and the Sequoia collected a healthy glaze.

There's only so much ponderousness you can tune out, and while the Sequoia is well behaved, it reminds you of the physics at play when bending into a turn. Overly light and fast steering doesn't help, either. Highway cruising would be more pleasurable with a helm that knew how to relax, rather than requiring frequent minute corrections. The powertrain, however, is incredible, making the big Sequoia feel like a drag racer. The 401 lb/ft of torque served up by the 5.7 liter iForce V8 certainly facilitates rapid attainment of highway velocities, and will barely flinch when hooked up to any trailer a sane person would feel comfortable hauling. With three differentials and such cavernous accommodations to haul around, the V8 also has a serious appetite for fuel. We saw between 12 and 15 mpg during the Sequoia's stay, and while there is a two-wheel-drive version with a smaller V8, you're not likely to do much better.

On the plus side, the Sequoia is quiet at speed. The JBL premium stereo is great and a rear seat DVD system is optional. The ride is comfortable, and the driving is easy. Safety has been attended to with stability control, a backup camera, and the proximity sensors that help you avoid docking by feel. The family-vehicle appeal of the Sequoia is quite high with its well considered details, and its real truck platform allows it to shrug off most terrain challenges as long as a capable driver is behind the wheel. With an as-tested price of $53,184, the cost is as hefty as the rest of the vehicle, but for that sum you wind up with an accommodating, capable vehicle that's overkill for the suburbs, but at home on the range.

 source by autoblog

2009 Toyota RAV4 Sport strikes agreeable balance

2009 Toyota RAV4 Sport - Click above for high-res image gallery

The small crossover segment, where the neo-sorta-trucks live, is one of the hottest battlegrounds for consumer dollars. Small skirmishes go on in the border regions; confused vehicles don't know whether to be mud-slingers with brash attitudes or optioned-up urban sophisticates. Toyota's RAV4 certainly brings sophistication, and though it can venture off road a bit, it's not a jumbled, mixed-up mess. The RAV's classification-straddling lets it serve the whims of a broad array of potential buyers.



Wanting to cover all the bases, the RAV4 can be had in a variety of configurations, from a basic front-driver with four-cylinder power up to a leather-lined, four-wheel-drive Limited with a silly-powerful V6. A Sport version seeds right in between the base and Limited, carrying a satisfying level of equipment. There's an allure to the big horsepower delivered by the six – especially when it costs as little on EPA ratings as the RAV's 3.5-liter – but these days, "adequate" is riding a wave of newfound popularity as Americans struggle to pinch more pennies. In keeping with that spirit, when it came time to test a RAV4, we decided to try life with a four-cylinder 4WD Sport.
All grown up in its third generation, the RAV4 has swelled significantly since the model launched back in the 1990s. The Highlander's newfound gigantism left room for the RAV to expand beyond its Corolla roots. The CUV's styling has shed its old stubbiness and is now far from the weird of the original. There's a strong face, a slight hint of gaping maw suggested by the trapezoidal grille, but the overall design is generally restrained and safe. Nowhere do you find a hint of cladding or overly fussy detailing, making this not-so-small small CUV a cleanly-styled contender.



The Sport trim level gets body colored fender flare appliques, as well as painted door handles, fog lamps, and sharp looking 18-inch alloy wheels. Sport badges taped to the doors are backed up by sharpened suspension reflexes; check out those blue painted struts. The Sport manages to differentiate itself from a base RAV4 the same way a Z06 looks more special than the standard Chevrolet Corvette. No version looks bad, but there's a little extra zoot to the step-up model, differences that are most noticeable when parked side by side. Unlike the Corvette, though, absolutely nobody is going to gawk at your RAV4, not even with that tumor of a spare tire on the back door.



The Sport has its own interior scheme called Dark Charcoal, which teams with the deeply tinted rear glass to lend a dour atmosphere to the interior. Lighter interior colors, like in other versions of the RAV, feel friendlier. New ground is not broken with the RAV4 inside or out, but Toyota has taken a file and rasped off any rough edges, so the execution is all but flawless. Even without the niceties of leather and oodles of tech, the RAV4's cabin sets the standard for its class. Others come close to Toyota's combination of good materials and attentive ergonomics, but the RAV4 manages to be a smidge better. Surfaces that look luxuriant are surprisingly hard to the touch, just like everyone else, and there are other spots where the plastics can easily collect scuffs. Tolerances are tighter than you'll find elsewhere, though, and the easy nature of all the controls gives the RAV4 an edge.



HVAC controls are three foolproof knobs. No fiddly rockers or digital displays here, just elegant, functional simplicity. There's no hunting around for anything in the RAV, with the exception of the miniscule fuel door release on the floor. The seats are the same story. Nothing exceptional, maybe not even the best, but when taken together with the rest of the vehicle, the whole still adds up to a sum that wins the day. Ferrying people? The second row slides and adjusts for rake, too. There's plenty of legroom for those passengers who didn't draw a long enough straw to sit up front. Child seat fitment, however, can be a little tricky if you're using the LATCH system. The top tether secures to a loop way down low on the seatback, a location that's very difficult to reach as it's blocked by the cargo organizer directly behind the seat.



If the RAV will be dragging your amazing collection of JEM paraphernalia from the 1980s, your entire stock should fit behind the rear seats. With the spare tire on the back door, lots of space is freed up. Remove the normal cargo area floor panel and you'll also find a deep well. There's even a cargo organizer at the base of the second row seatbacks. If more space is needed, folding the seats is accomplished by pulling a lever on either side of the cargo area. For really big merchandisers, the V6 RAVs can be ordered with a trailer-prep package.

The rear door, hinged at one side, is less practical and studied than we've come to expect from a star student like Toyota. Tight parking situations can sometimes make swinging the door a challenge, and the weight of an 18-inch wheel and tire bolted to the other side doesn't help matters. Surely, a full size spare is welcome when you blow a tire, but if you're parked on a hill, it can be beastly to yank open the cargo hold, and if gravity gives an assist, you could inadvertently be whisked into next week. Besides, externally mounted spares don't always allow the bumper to do the...well, bumping, so a routine slow-speed back-up oopsie can end up costing many thousands in sheetmetal and broken glass. We think the RAV4 would be better with a top-hinged hatch, but at least Toyota paid attention to the fact that people will actually want to load things into the vehicle. There's a deep cut into the rear bumper that makes liftover height reasonable, and the door has a welcome "hold-open" feature.




2009 marks the arrival of Toyota's 2AR four-cylinder in the RAV4's engine room. The AR series engine is used in the Camry, Highlander and Venza, though the larger 2.7-liter 1AZ is in the larger vehicles, leaving the 2.5-liter 2AR for the RAV and Camry. The new engine features an aluminum block with cast-in iron liners, dual balance shafts, variable valve timing on both intake and exhaust camshafts, and employs a low friction design. Other techniques like tumble control valves and newly designed fuel injectors are also employed to ensure clean, efficient running. The result of the impressive spec sheet is a 2.5-liter engine that delivers 179 horsepower and 172 lb-ft of torque while returning miles-per-gallon in the mid-20s. Even with a four-speed automatic transmission crying out for updating, the powertrain returned 25 mpg in our driving. Unfortunately for Toyota, that's not nearly efficient enough to beat newcomers like the redesigned 2010 Chevy Equinox, which is expected to achieve 32 mpg on the highway compared to this Toyota's best effort of 28 mpg.



The RAV4's transmission is a demerit, making performance feel soft when merging or passing. Once the tachometer needle swings past 4,000 rpm, the pleasantly powerful engine puts its shoulder into it and moves things along smartly. The four-cylinder RAV is not down on gumption, but it would be more pleasing and lively with either a modern automatic with more ratios, or a manual.



The sport-tuned suspension of our Sport model was well behaved, but it felt slightly stiff-kneed, something that non-enthusiasts might find objectionable. Tightly snubbed body control is good, but there's more bobbing and head toss than we'd have liked. That said, if we had to pick, we'd take stiff over floaty. The electrically-assisted power steering surprisingly manages to avoid being shot up with Novocain, too. Thus, cruising down the road is relaxed in the RAV4 Sport. Overall, there's a Lexus-like sheen about its demeanor, and the attention to detail and care that's been taken with its design let it get away with some demerits. The RAV4 goes down the road in a calm, relaxed and muted fashion, and opting out of the V6 doesn't put you in an underpowered penalty box. Pricing in the mid-$20,000 range is competitive, and when compared with other small SUVs on the market, the RAV feels like a bargain that offers a level of sophistication that's head and shoulders above most.
source by autoblog